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Multimorbidity in dementia: Current perspectives and future challenges
Lucy Stirland, Radmila Choate, Preeti Zanwar, Panpan Zhang, Tamlyn Watermeyer, Martina Valletta, Mario Torso, Stefano Tamburin et al.. Alzheimer s & Dementia, 2025-08-01
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Multimorbidity-the co-occurrence of two or more chronic health conditions-affects > 86% of people with dementia. It is associated with cognitive and functional decline, reduced health-related quality of life, increased health-care use, and higher mortality. The relationship between multimorbidity and dementia is potentially bidirectional; conditions such as hypertension and diabetes increase the risk of developing dementia, and cognitive impairment can complicate their management. This complexity presents challenges in health care and research, affecting treatment decisions and often leading to the exclusion of these individuals from clinical trials. Understanding multimorbidity through long-term prospective studies is crucial to clarify its relationship with dementia. Investigating specific disease combinations, environmental and genetic factors, and their impacts on cognitive health will guide the development of effective prediction models and inclusive intervention strategies for diverse global populations across the life course. HIGHLIGHTS: Multimorbidity affects > 86% of individuals with dementia, worsening outcomes. The relationship between multimorbidity and dementia is potentially bidirectional. Chronic conditions hinder dementia management and clinical trial inclusion. Life-course multimorbidity research is key to dementia risk reduction strategies. Prospective studies are needed to improve prediction models and interventions.
Key findings
- It is associated with cognitive and functional decline, reduced health-related quality of life, increased health-care use, and higher mortality.
Why it matters
This review reports that multimorbidity affects more than 86% of people with dementia and is tied to faster cognitive and functional decline, lower quality of life, more health-care use, and higher mortality. It calls for long-term prospective studies to clarify the relationship, so it offers no treatment, cure, or prevention at this stage.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 50/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Alzheimer s & Dementia) |
| Journal's citation record | 2 / 4 | Alzheimer s & Dementia: journal h-index 228 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 4 / 5 | 2025 — within 3 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 4 / 7 | Cited 41 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 3 / 5 | 13.7 citations a year over 3 year(s) since 2025 |
| Impact for its field and year | 5 / 6 | Cited 25.5× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 1 / 6 | Cited by 1 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 2 / 4 | Cited 41 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 1 / 4 | Last-listed author Vidyani Suryadevara: h-index 14 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 3 / 3 | Stanford University: institution h-index 2,684 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 3 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 31 institution(s) in 9 countries |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 40755143) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Total | 50 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Stirland, L., Choate, R., Zanwar, P., Zhang, P., Watermeyer, T., Valletta, M., et al. (2025). Multimorbidity in dementia: Current perspectives and future challenges. Alzheimer s & Dementia. https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.70546
Vancouver
Stirland L, Choate R, Zanwar P, Zhang P, Watermeyer T, Valletta M, et al. Multimorbidity in dementia: Current perspectives and future challenges. Alzheimer s & Dementia. 2025. doi:10.1002/alz.70546. PMID: 40755143.
BibTeX
@article{stirland2025-40755143,
author = {Stirland, Lucy and Choate, Radmila and Zanwar, Preeti and Zhang, Panpan and Watermeyer, Tamlyn and Valletta, Martina and Torso, Mario and Tamburin, Stefano and others},
title = {{Multimorbidity in dementia: Current perspectives and future challenges}},
journal = {Alzheimer s \& Dementia},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.1002/alz.70546},
pmid = {40755143},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.70546}
}
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